Slitter for display packages and similar products

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for slitting sheets of material comprising a frame having an inclined flat stationary feed bed which is fixedly mounted on the frame. The bed includes a series of transversely spaced inclined rails and each rail is provided with a knife opening located intermediately relative to upper and lower ends of each rail. Cutting means are also supported on the frame and comprise a paired knife and anvil with each pair co-acting at each knife opening thereby providing a series of transversely spaced slitting stations for slitting a sheet as it moves downwardly along the inclined flat feed bed on the aforesaid rails. The lower ends of the rails extend beneath and below the slitting stations to support the sheet before and after slitting. Each paired knife and anvil are so constructed to shear cut the sheet and the knives are self-sharpening because of the manner in which they are mounted relative to the anvils. Product support guides are positioned between the inclined rails for supporting the contents contained within the &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;blisters.&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; A first sheet is employed carrying the blisters. The blisters in effect comprise a series of transparent open-ended pouches which are adapted to receive product and a closure sheet is secured to the first sheet to seal the product within the blister. The guides are used where the products being packaged are relatively heavy in weight.

United States Patent Potsch et al.

[111 3,788,180 14 1 Jan. 29, 1974 SLITTER FOR DISPLAY PACKAGES AND SIMILAR PRODUCTS [75] Inventors: George Potsch, Lake Zurich; Karl Friedrich Poetsch, McHenry, both of I11.

[73] Assignee: Sun Industries Incorporated, Fox

Lake, 111.

[22] Filed: Nov. 10, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 197,205

[52] US. Cl 83/449, 83/425.4, 83/477.2, 83/496, 83/500 [51] Int. Cl B26d 1/24, B26d 7/06 [58] Field of Search.. 83/420, 421, 433, 471, 477.2, 83/478, 482, 496, 925 MG, 925 R, 278, 435, 449, 401, 425-4254, 500; 146/98; 143/38 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 357,187 2/1887. Duncan 83/500 X 2,889,878 6/1959 White et al. 83/925 R X 3,492,899 2/1970 Baldwina... 83/449 516,746 3/1894 Pope 83/482' 3,459,086 8/1969 Reeder, Jr. 83/496 X 1,817,481 8/1931 Fairchild 83/478 3,148,720 9/1964 Olson et al 146/98 3,469,482 9/1969 Lee 8.3/449 3,682,032 8/1972 Pfeiffer 83/496' Primary Examiner-Frank T. Yost Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross Simpson [5 7] ABSTRACT An apparatus for slitting sheets of material comprising a frame having an inclined flat stationary feed bed which is fixedly mounted on the frame. The bed includes a series of transversely spaced inclined rails and each rail is provided with a knife opening located intermediately relative to upper and lower ends of each rail. Cutting means are also supported on the frame and comprise a paired knife and anvil with each pair co-acting at each knife opening thereby providing a series of transversely spaced slitting stations for slitting a sheet as it moves downwardly along the inclined flat feed bed on the aforesaid rails. The lower ends of the rails extend beneath and below the slitting stations to support the sheet before and after slitting. Each paired knife and anvil are so constructed to shear cut the sheet and the knives are self-sharpening because of the manner in which they are mounted relative to the anvils. Product support guides are positioned between the inclined rails for supporting the contents contained within the blisters. A first sheet is employed carrying the blisters. The blisters in effect comprise a series of transparent open-ended pouches which are adapted to receive product and a closure sheet is secured to the first sheet to seal the product within the blister. The guides are used where the products being packaged are relatively heavy in weight.

12 Claims 9 Drawing Figures PAIENIED 3.788 180 sum 1 0F 4 m WW M 50 SLITTER FOR DISPLAY PACKAGES AND SIMILAR PRODUCTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to a slitter for slitting sheets of material and more particularly relates to a slitter having an inclined flat stationary feed bed for enabling sheets to be slit to be gravity fed to slitting stations.

2. Description of the Prior Art Certain packagers in the United States currently are packaging a wide variety of products on machines that are particularly adapted for making so-called blistertype packages. In a packaging operation of this type a paperboard sheet is die-cut to provide a series of spaced openings and blisters are then formed in the openings which may be made preferably of a transparent synthetic plastic material. Product is then automatically loaded into the open-ended pouches. A second closure sheet is then applied to the upper-side of the die-cut sheet and secured in assembly therewith. It will, therefore, be appreciated that each sheet is formed with a series of filled pouches and the sheet must then be further processed so that the filled pouches can be separated to form separate pouches. Industry commonly uses a so-called horizontal-typeslitter for cutting the filled pouches apart. Conventionally, packaging machines are provided with a conveyor that transports the product filled sheet to a power driven horizontal infeed conveyor provided on the horizontal slitter. This power driven horizontal infeed conveyor then transports the product filled sheet to the cutting knives and the pouches are then severed from one another. The slitting operation is generally carried out on the same plane as the plane of the horizontal infeed conveyor and is powered by a separate drive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a new and improved slitter has been provided having a stationary infeed section comprising a gravity feed bed. The slitter also has an improved knife and anvil assembly. The gravity feed bed and the knife and anvil assembly are compactly oriented so as to occupy less overall area than where a separate horizontal infeed conveyor is required as previously described. By providing an inclined feed bed to permit the product to be gravity fed into the knives, it has been found that scrap loss can be almost totally eliminated since the product can be fed through and then drawn through the cutting stations. By providing a construction of this type, the additional chain drive and lugs on the conventional machines now in use can now be eliminated. The conventional horizontal-type slitter having the horizontal infeed conveyor has a scrap loss of 2 percent percent in contrast with the new slitter here disclosed where field testing has proven that the scrap loss has been reduced to virtually zero. Any suitable material can be used to form the packages to be cut apart.

According to other features of this invention, adjustments for setting up the slitter can be made quickly to enable different sized sheets to be slit in contrast with the horizontal-type slitter previously discussed. Experience in the field has demonstrated that 2 4 hours have been required to change over the old horizontal-type slitter for a different sized slitting operation. The new slitter here disclosed can be set up to make a different size cut in a period of time of about 10 minutes.

The slitter herein disclosed also embodies other improved features in regard to the construction of each knife and anvil. As disclosed, the anvil is power driven and its knife engaging face is engaged at an angle of 0. The associated knife is provided with a holder and the holder is offset at an angle of about W and the knife blade has a cutting edge that is formed having a 1 angle. When the knives and the anvils co-act they provide interengaged cutting areas. The knife and anvil are so mounted with respect to one another that when the sheet is fed into engagement with the knife and anvil, a so-called shear cut is generated as opposed to the oldtype of crush cut. A crush cut is generated where the knife tracks on top of and in engagement with an upper surface of an anvil.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofa slitter embodying the features of our invention and showing a card or sheet in position for slitting;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the slitter with certain elements shown in section;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross section through the slitter taken substantially along the line IIIIII looking in the direction indicated by the arrows as shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of product support guides with the support shafts shown in section;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section of the guides taken substantially along the line V V looking in the direction indicated by the arrows as seen in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a cutting assembly with the cutting knife shown in section;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view of the slitter shown in FIG. I with certain components shown in dotted lines and with discharge conveyor positioned for transporting product to the slitter.

'FIGS. 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views for the purpose of showing the different positions of the cutting knives.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference numeral 10 indicates generally a slitter or a slitting machine for slitting a sheet of material 3 which embodies our described invention. The slitter is provided with a slitter frame or slitter stand 11. The slitter stand may be of any suitable construction. As illustrated, the stand 11 is of an open framework boxtype modular construction. A series of closure panels such as are illustrated in FIG. 1 at 11a, 11b, and 11c are suitably secured to the frame to enclose the central area of the frame thereby providing an enclosed type housing having a recessed area R at its upper end. The rear panel is not shown. I

An inclined flat stationary sheet feed bed of a gravity feed type is suitably mounted on the frame in the recessed area R which bed is indicated generally by the reference numeral 12. A pair of side plates 13 and 14 are suitably secured to the frame 11 and support means 15 is provided for supporting the bed 12 on the side plates 13 and 14.

The. rail support means comprises a series of spaced horizontal support shafts as indicated by 18 and 19 for supporting each of a series of transversely spaced bed rails 16'. These support shafts are mounted on an inclined plane. The series of transversely spaced inclined rails 16 are fixedly mounted and supported by the aforesaid spaced horizontal shafts 18 and 19 (FIGS. 1 and 3). To this end, the rails 16 each are provided with a rail support bracket or block 16a. Screws 20 are provided to secure the rail to a pair of the associated blocks 16a. The blocks 16a each have notched edges indicated at 16b which are mounted in fitted assembly with the shafts 18 and 19. Set screws 21 are provided to lock the rails in'fixed assembly with the supporting shafts. The relative transverse position of the rails 16 can be quickly changed merely by loosening the set screws 16a, moving the rails to a new position and resecuring the set screws 21.

EDGE GUIDE ASSEMBLY Adjustment means 25 (FIGS. 1 3) are provided to screws or stub shafts or adjustable bars 27 27 are mounted on sleeve bearings 28 28 in the side frame plates 13 and 14. The inner adjacent ends 27a 27a of the stub shafts 28 28 are'connected by a sleeve-.

type coupling 29. The handwheels 30 are mounted at the outer ends of the stub shafts 27 27 on the outersides of the side plates 13 and 14. One stub shaft has a left-hand thread; and the other stub shaft has a right-hand thread.

When the coupling 29 is disengaged, either of the stub shafts 27 27 can be rotated by turning the associated handwheel 30 30 to cause the associated edge guide 26 to move independent of the other edge guide 26'thereby to vary theposition of one of the edge guides 26 with respect to the other. Similarly, the other hand-wheel 30 can be operated to cause the independent movement of the opposite edge guide 26. After the proper adjustment ismade, the coupling 29 is then secured in fixed relationship to the adjacent ends 27a 27a of the stub shafts thereby locking them together by the operation of set screws 31 (FIG. 2). In order to further support the stub shafts 27 27, and to permit relative lateral or transverse movement of each of the edge guides 26, the screw threads are engaged in threaded bores or holes 32a 32a in a pair of guide support blocks 32 32.

In view of the foregoing it will be appreciated that the guide assemblies 26 are each of a similar construction and a description of one will sufflce for both of them. More particularly, the guide assembly 26 includes an edge guide'plate 33 having an enlarged flared flange portion 34 l and a reduced end portion 35 having a length in excess of the length of the rails 16. The enlarged flange portions 34 34 project upwardly beyond the upper ends of the rails to permit the product S to be guided onto the rails by an infeed conveyor 3b (FIG. 7).

In order to secure the flange portions 34 to the blocks 32, flanged edge guide rails 37 are provided. As stated, each of the flangededge guide rails 37 include a flange 38 secured by four screws 39 to the associated block 32. The flange 38 has notched edges 40 40 and 41 which are formed so as to be free of the support shafts 18 and 19 and the screw adjustment mechanism 25 including the stub shafts 27 27.

A series of screws .42 and 43 are provided to secure the flanged edge guide rails 37 to the edge guide plate With certain types of so-called cards where heavier product is carried in the blisters it is desirable to provide additional support at the area of the --blisters as the cards are passing through the s litter. To this end, product support rails 44 can be positioned alongside of the rails 16 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Theseproduct support rails are provided with mounting pins 45 that project through the rail blocks 16a and are secured in place by set screws 46 (FIG. 4). It will thus be seen that these accessory rails can be quickly installed and removed, as desired.

KNIFE ASSEMBLY Mounted on a support base portion of the frame 11 is a motor 57 having a drive pulley 58 connected by a V- belt 59 to the pulley 56. An electrical control 60 (FIG.

1) is provided for operating the motor. The knives are eachindividually mounted on a knife support shaftor bar 61. The knife support bar is fixedly secured at opposite ends to the side plates 13 and 14 in underlying relation with respect to the lower endsof the rails 16.

In order to mount the knife assembly 50 on the knife support bar it will be noted in FIGS. and 6 that a knife support'arm 62 has been provided. The knife support arm 62 has a split end 63 which is engaged about the knife support shaft 61. Each arm is also provided with a screw 64 for clampingthe split end 63 of the support arm in unitary relationship with the knife support bar 61. It will, thus, be seen that the position of the knife assembly can be quickly changed with respect to the knife support shaft or bar 61 merely bythe adjustmentof the screw 64, the movement of the knife assemblies 61 and the resecurement of the screw 64 after the knife assemblies have been moved to a new position. Eachof the knives 52 has a knife hub 65 with'an outer annular recessed area 66 providing a knife mounting shoulder 67. An annular knife blade 68 is carried on the shoulder. An annular ring spring 69 is mounted on one side of the blade 68 and an annular retaining ring 70 is secured in a recess 71 on an opposite side ofthe blade 68. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 itwill be seen that the knife blade 68 is preferably providedwith a bevel cut cuttingv knife hub 69 are carried on a knife support shaft 72 t that is in turn rotatably mounted on an inner end of the knife support arm 62. The knife hub is mounted at a 1 /2 angle relative to the axis of the knife support shaft 72 so that the total opposite angle of the knife is 1 The l /2" opposite angle provided on the cutting knife is believed to be a significant improvement over the old techniques now employed by industry in connection with the machines now used for the slitting of cards of this type. By offsetting the knife blade at a I /z angle with respect to the anvil a shear cut can be secured. It is in this manner that the knife can be caused to co-act with the anvil in such a way that virtually no scrap is generated as a result of the operation of the knife and anvil assembly. By disposing the knife blade and anvil in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the knife blade cutting edge is self-sharpening.

The slitter 10 is adapted to slit a finished packaged product to separate one product from another. The product can be packaged in blisters, pouches or in any suitable manner with any suitable material. The slitter can operate to slit leather, plastic, paper, cardboard, thin sheet metal having a thickness of the order of 0.002 0.003 inch and the like.

In the preferred embodiment as illustrated in the drawings, the inclined rails 16 are preferably mounted at an angle of 30. This angle can be varied depending upon the weight of the product and the product S to be slit.

In operation, the slitter machine 10 is self-feeding and as the cards are conveyed by the infeed conveyor 37 to the rails 16, the cards then fall' by gravity on to the upper ends of the rails 16 and the weight of the cards carry them to the knife and anvil a ssembly where they are then slit. These sheets S are spaced apart on the conveyor 37 and are consecutively transported and dropped on to the rails. Desirably, the spacing between the cards on the conveyor 37 is maintained so that the cards will not be bunched together as they are fed along the inclined rails 16 to the cutting knives. Each of the knives has a knife support guard 73 carried by the arm 62 for enclosing an upper end of the knife blade 68. It will also be noted that lower end of the knife blade projects through a rail opening 16'. The anvil is disposed beneath the rail 16 and beneath the knife opening 16 in engagement with the knife blade. After the sheet has been slit, the severed packages are supported by the lower ends of the rails and are allowed to drop into boxes or on to another conveyor for final cartoning.

We claim as our invention: 1. A slitter for slitting sheets of material comprising a frame, an inclined flat stationary sheet feed bed fixedly mounted on said frame including a series of transversely spaced inclined rails each having a rotary knife opening intermediate its upper and lower ends,

cutting means at each of said knife openings comprising a rotary knife and an anvil supported on said frame with said cutting means being aligned with said knife opening for slitting the sheet as it moves downwardly from the upper ends of the rails across said knife openings and with the rails at the lower ends supporting the slit sheet after being cut by said cutting means,

means for transversely adjusting the rails and the cutting means, and,

means for driving said anvils.

2. The slitter of claim l'further characterized by inclined product support means positioned between said inclined rails providing product support means which product is carried on the sheet being slit.

3. The slitter of claim 1 further characterized by a knife support bar supported at opposite ends by said frame in overlying relation with respect to the lower ends of said rails, and mounting means carried by said support bar providing a cantilever support for each of said rotary knives. v

4. The slitter of claim 1 further characterized by said means for driving said anvils comprising a motor mounted on said frame, a drive pulley operatively connected to said anvils, and means connecting said motor and said pulley in driving relation.

5. The slitter of claim 1 further characterized by said anvil knife having a flat surface being mounted at a 1 /2 angle in offset relation to said upper slitting knife and with the upper slitting knife being mounted and operationed to force the paper into contact with said flat surface on said anvil knife, whereby a self-sharpening action is attained to enable the knife and anvil to co-act to produce a shear cut.

6. The slitter of claim 1 further characterized by each of said rails having a knife opening intermediate its upper and lower ends and with the associated knife and anvil assembly being aligned with said knife opening thus permitting the sheet to be slit as it passes over said knife openings in said rails.

7. The slitter of claim 1 further characterized by said bed having a pair of sheet edge guides at transversely opposite sides of the bed enabling prescribed areas of each sheet to be conveyed into a cutting zone defined by said cutting means.

8. The slitter of claim 7 further characterized by means for moving each of said edge guides independently of one another in directions towards and away from one another.

9. The slitter of claim 7 further characterized by means for moving said edge guides transversely relative to the frame in selected adjusted positions relative to said knife and anvil.

10. A slitter for slitting sheets of material comprising:

a frame,

an inclined flat stationary sheet feed bed fixedly mounted in an inclined position on said frame including a series of transversely spaced inclined rails each having upper and lower ends,

cutting means co-operative with each of said rails comprising a rotary knife and an anvil supported on said frame with said cutting means being operable for slitting the sheet as it moves downwardly from the upper ends of the rails in a direction toward the lower ends of the rails, and

means for casusing said knives and anvils to be driven relative to one another for cutting the sheets, each of said rails being provided with adjustable mounting means to permit the rails to be individually moved transversely of the bed and said knives and anvils each being provided with adjustable mounting means to enable each of them to be shifted and moved transversely of the bed independently of one another to minimize set-up time. 11. A slitter for slitting sheets of material comprising a frame,

an inclined flat stationary sheet feed bed fixedly mounted in an inclined position on said frame including a series of transversely spaced inclined rails each having upper and lower ends,

cutting means co-operative with each off said rails comprising a rotary knife and an anvil supported on said frame with said cutting means being operable for slitting the sheet as it moves downwardly from the upper ends of the rails in a direction toward the lower ends of the rails, and

means forcausing said knives and anvils to be driven relative to one another for cutting the sheets;

edge guides being disposed at opposite sides of said bed, and means co-operable with said edge guides enabling the edge guides to be moved simultaneously toward and away from one another when said edge guides are interconnected and enabling said edge guides to be moved independently of one another when said edge guides are disengaged from one another.

12. A slitter for slitting sheets of material comprising a frame,

an inclined flat stationary sheet feed bed fixedly mounted in an inclined position on said frame including a series of transversely spaced inclined rails each having upper and lower ends, cutting means co-operative with each of said rails comprising a rotary knife and an anvil supported on said frame with said cutting means being operable for slitting the sheet as it moves downwardly from the upper ends of the rails in a direction toward the lower ends of the rails, 7 means for causing said knives and anvils to be driven relative to one another for cutting the sheets, each of said rails being provided with adjustable mounting means to permit the rails to be individually moved transversely of the bed and said knives and anvils each being provided with an adjustable mounting means to enable each of them to be shifted and moved transversely of the bed indepen dently of one another to minimize set-up time, and a knive support bar being mounted on the frame and overlying a lower end of said infeed section, knife support arms mounted as cantilevers from said support bar with said knives mounted thereon, and adjustable 'means connecting said arms to said bar permitting said arms to be mounted in selected positions along the length of said bar. 

1. A slitter for slitting sheets of material comprising a frame, an inclined flat stationary sheet feed bed fixedly mounted on said frame including a series of transversely spaced inclined rails each having a rotary knife opening intermediate its upper and lower ends, cutting means at each of said knife openings comprising a rotary knife and an anvil supported on said frame with said cutting means being aligned with said knife opening for slitting the sheet as it moves downwardly from the upper ends of the rails across said knife openings and with the rails at the lower ends supporting the slit sheet after being cut by said cutting means, means for transversely adjusting the rails and the cutting means, and, means for driving said anvils.
 2. The slitter of claim 1 further characterized by inclined product support means positioned between said inclined rails providing product support means which product is carried on the sheet being slit.
 3. The slitter of claim 1 further characterized by a knife support bar supported at opposite ends by said frame in overlying relation with respect to the lower ends of said rails, and mounting means carried by said support bar providing a cantilever support for each of said rotary knives.
 4. The slitter of claim 1 further characterized by said means for driving said anvils comprising a motor mounted on said frame, a drive pulley operatively connected to said anvils, and meaNs connecting said motor and said pulley in driving relation.
 5. The slitter of claim 1 further characterized by said anvil knife having a flat surface being mounted at a 1 1/2 * angle in offset relation to said upper slitting knife and with the upper slitting knife being mounted and operationed to force the paper into contact with said flat surface on said anvil knife, whereby a self-sharpening action is attained to enable the knife and anvil to co-act to produce a shear cut.
 6. The slitter of claim 1 further characterized by each of said rails having a knife opening intermediate its upper and lower ends and with the associated knife and anvil assembly being aligned with said knife opening thus permitting the sheet to be slit as it passes over said knife openings in said rails.
 7. The slitter of claim 1 further characterized by said bed having a pair of sheet edge guides at transversely opposite sides of the bed enabling prescribed areas of each sheet to be conveyed into a cutting zone defined by said cutting means.
 8. The slitter of claim 7 further characterized by means for moving each of said edge guides independently of one another in directions towards and away from one another.
 9. The slitter of claim 7 further characterized by means for moving said edge guides transversely relative to the frame in selected adjusted positions relative to said knife and anvil.
 10. A slitter for slitting sheets of material comprising: a frame, an inclined flat stationary sheet feed bed fixedly mounted in an inclined position on said frame including a series of transversely spaced inclined rails each having upper and lower ends, cutting means co-operative with each of said rails comprising a rotary knife and an anvil supported on said frame with said cutting means being operable for slitting the sheet as it moves downwardly from the upper ends of the rails in a direction toward the lower ends of the rails, and means for casusing said knives and anvils to be driven relative to one another for cutting the sheets, each of said rails being provided with adjustable mounting means to permit the rails to be individually moved transversely of the bed and said knives and anvils each being provided with adjustable mounting means to enable each of them to be shifted and moved transversely of the bed independently of one another to minimize set-up time.
 11. A slitter for slitting sheets of material comprising a frame, an inclined flat stationary sheet feed bed fixedly mounted in an inclined position on said frame including a series of transversely spaced inclined rails each having upper and lower ends, cutting means co-operative with each off said rails comprising a rotary knife and an anvil supported on said frame with said cutting means being operable for slitting the sheet as it moves downwardly from the upper ends of the rails in a direction toward the lower ends of the rails, and means for causing said knives and anvils to be driven relative to one another for cutting the sheets; edge guides being disposed at opposite sides of said bed, and means co-operable with said edge guides enabling the edge guides to be moved simultaneously toward and away from one another when said edge guides are interconnected and enabling said edge guides to be moved independently of one another when said edge guides are disengaged from one another.
 12. A slitter for slitting sheets of material comprising a frame, an inclined flat stationary sheet feed bed fixedly mounted in an inclined position on said frame including a series of transversely spaced inclined rails each having upper and lower ends, cutting means co-operative with each of said rails comprising a rotary knife and an anvil supported on said frame with said cutting means being operable for slitting the sheet as it moves downwardly from the upper ends of the rails in a direction toward the lower ends of the rails, means for causing said Knives and anvils to be driven relative to one another for cutting the sheets, each of said rails being provided with adjustable mounting means to permit the rails to be individually moved transversely of the bed and said knives and anvils each being provided with an adjustable mounting means to enable each of them to be shifted and moved transversely of the bed independently of one another to minimize set-up time, and a knive support bar being mounted on the frame and overlying a lower end of said infeed section, knife support arms mounted as cantilevers from said support bar with said knives mounted thereon, and adjustable means connecting said arms to said bar permitting said arms to be mounted in selected positions along the length of said bar. 